Over pruned wisteria?

shorn

Hi all,

We moved to our property in Nov 19. We have a beautiful wisteria growing over a pergola in the rear garden. It's been growing for 25 years. Last year it came out beautifully. This was by 25th April...

 
I cut it back in the winter. Was told I should go quite brutal. However this year...


      

I'm panicking. Any thoughts?

Obelixx

Too brutal but it is showing willing and should recover, especially if you can give it some slow release fertiliser near its roots now and the occasional liquid feed of rose or tomato food to encourage flower shoots.

There is a special, but not complicated, rule for pruning wisteria - once in late July to shorten all the new whippy tendrils back to 7 buds or leaf nodes and then again in February to shorten all the stems back to 2 buds.  This promotes flowering as well as controlling size. 

I have two rather large wisteria we inherited in this garden.  I do the summer prune but don't count every stem.  I just prune each one back to the main frame of the plant as and when they get too long or bushwhack me when I'm passing or extend beyond bounds.   My too produce flowers sporadically all summer once the initial flush is over and all the petals have fallen.  I usually prune off the spent flower heads that I can reach without a ladder.

The winter prune is to cut back any crossing stems that rub each other and also to cut out any that are heading under the guttering or roof tiles.   Easy to see when there are no leaves in the way.  This was last week.   Now we have lilac coloured snow starting.

Dave Humby

Yes you’ve cut away the stems that produce the foliage and flowers. 

shorn

Thank you for the responses. I'm new to gardening and feel I'm learning lessons the hard and fast way. Pruning is causing me no end of angst! I only pruned once in the winter, I didn't do one in the summer.

So with regards to the slow release fertiliser, that's the granule type feed right? I'll get some together with liquid tomato feed.

Is there anything else I can be doing and is there a chance that it won't recover?

Obelixx

Like I said, it's showing willing by having a few flowers.   Feed it, water it in dry spells, apologise for getting it wrong.   It should respond well.

Best to use blood, fish and bone or pelleted chicken/cow/horse manure rather than granular chemical fertiliser stuff.

batwood14

@shorn I can assure you that it will recover and yes you gave it a severe haricut but they are very hard to destroy. Be gentle with it in your next prune. There are a couple of vids on youtube that will show you how to prune.

batwood14

oh dear that should say haircut!

shorn

Thank you for the advice. I feel somewhat encouraged! Hopefully getting the feed this weekend and will help it along. Hopefully I can post an update in the next year to show an improvement!

Obelixx

Just to reassure you, here's a photo I took in May 2017 (our first spring here)  after our east facing wisteria had finished flowering.  Like you, I cut it hard back to the main stems.   I did feed it afterwards and watered it in the hot, dry spell that followed and, as you can see from my earlier pics, it has responded well.

shorn

Just thought I'd throw up an update. It's nowhere where it was last year, but it's picking up. Been feeding and watering and it's looking more promising now. 

shorn

Just checking back through this thread. 

The wisteria has been improving and last year I cut back earlier in winter (early December). Seems to have helped this year. First year of proper flowering since 2018!

Photos in case anyone comes across the same issue and wonders if they return 👍